Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater
| Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | |
|---|---|
 Danny and Marlo Thomas on Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theratre, 1961 |
|
| Also known as | Zane Grey Theatre |
| Genre | Anthology |
| Created by | Luke Short Charles A. Wallace |
| Presented by | Dick Powell |
| Theme music composer | Joseph Mullendore |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 149 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Helen Ainsworth Hal Hudson Aaron Spelling |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Four Star Productions Pamric Productions Zane Grey Enterprises |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | October 5, 1956 – May 18, 1961 |
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961.
Overview
Created by Luke Short and Charles A. Wallace, Zane Grey Theatre was originally based on the short stories and novels of Western author Zane Grey, but as the episodes continued, new material was included.[1]Aaron Spelling, wrote twenty Zane Grey episodes. The series opened each week with a prelude of the episode followed by the introduction, the firing of a gun, with the proclamation: "From out of the West, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater." Much of the musical score was handled by Four Star's Herschel Burke Gilbert.
Powell appeared as various characters in 15 of the 149 episodes and hosted the entire run. A half-hour program, Zane Grey Theatre debuted at 8:30 Eastern on Friday, October 5, 1956, and ran until the end of the 1960-1961 season, when Powell switched to NBC for a new hour-long anthology of drama and comedy called The Dick Powell Show, which he maintained until shortly after Powell's death from cancer.
Spin-offs
Zane Grey Theatre was ground-breaking in that five episodes were developed into subsequent series: Trackdown (from "Badge of Honor") starring Robert Culp as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman, Johnny Ringo (from "Man Alone"), starring Don Durant, both on CBS, The Rifleman (from "The Sharpshooter") with Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain on ABC, The Westerner on NBC (from "Trouble at Tres Cruces"), starring Brian Keith as Dave Blassingame, and Black Saddle (from "Threat of Violence") with Chris Alcaide instead of subsequent series star Peter Breck as the gunfighter-turned-lawyer Clay Culhane) on ABC.[1]
In addition, Wanted: Dead or Alive, with Steve McQueen playing the bounty hunter Josh Randall, was a CBS spinoff of Trackdown, and Law of the Plainsman, starring Michael Ansara as a Harvard-educated, Native American U.S. Marshal, was an NBC spin-off of The Rifleman.
Selected episodes
In the first of two appearances on the program, Danny Thomas, appeared in "A Thread of Respect" (1959) as Gino Pelletti, an Italian tailor who arrives in a frontier town to set up a shop with his son, George, played by Nick Adams. The tailor must stand up to Jess Newton, the leader of a group of hoodlums, played by James Coburn, in order to keep his son from straying to the lawless element.[2]
In December 1959, at the age of fifteen, Don Grady appeared in two different Zane Grey episodes, having played opposite Joan Crawford and then Dick Powell. In "Rebel Ranger", he is cast as Rob Faring, the young son of Crawford's character, Stella Faring, a Confederate widow who tries to reclaim her former home and Rob's birthplace from the Unionist owner, Cass Taggart, portrayed by Scott Forbes. Character actor John Anderson is cast as Fisk Madden, who tries to drive Taggart off his land and gain Stella's favor. The episode ends with Stella and Rob heading into a nearby town with the understanding that Taggart would call upon Stella for possible courtship.[3]
In "Death in a Wood", Grady plays a young Unionist, Zachary, who grows to understand that a Confederate soldier named Lawrence (played by Dick Powell), who is holding him prisoner, is a man of decency and strength of commitment. Simon Oakland appears in this episode as a less sympathetic Confederate named Townsend.[4]
In "License to Kill" (February 7, 1958), MacDonald Carey plays Tom Baker, a wounded sheriff facing the arrival of unruly cattle drovers. The mayor, played by Jacques Aubuchon, hires Lane Baker, portrayed by John Ericson, as the town marshal to assist the sheriff but against the sheriff's wishes. Lane turns out to be the sheriff's younger brother. The two differ on law enforcement techniques but are eventually reconciled from a long-term family split. Stacy Harris plays Doc Currie, who set Tom Baker's broken arm.[5]
In "Let the Man Die" (December 18, 1958), Dick Powell portrays Dr. Mike Reynolds, who must operate on Dolf Akins, played by Brett King, an unpopular gunfighter with a bullet lodged near his heart. Civic leaders, however, want Reynolds to let Akins die, but his own conscience and the Hippocratic oath forbids the doctor from doing so. Akins dies in surgery, but the situation is clouded by the revelation that is was Reynolds' stepson, Nick, portrayed by Ralph Reed, not Akins, who was responsible for the killing of townsman Tom Menken, played by Frank Ferguson. Marsha Hunt appears in this episode as the doctor's wife, Julie.[6]
In "Deadfall" (February 19, 1959), Van Johnson is cast as Frank Gilette, a former outlaw falsely charged with bank robbery. He is framed by Hugh Perry, a corrupt prosecutor played by Harry Townes, and Deputy Stover, portrayed by Bing Russell. Convicted of the robbery, Gilette is captured by outlaws while on his way to prison, and the sheriff, Roy Lamont, portrayed by Grant Withers, is killed.[7]
In "Medal for Valor" (December 25, 1958), Rufus Stewart, a businessman played by Paul Fix, hires David Manning, a man with an ill wife in need of medical treatment, played by Richard Basehart, to substitute in the American Civil War for Stewart's son, Adam, portrayed by Richard Anderson. Manning, who won a Medal of Honor, returns from three years in the Army for an affidavit certifying that he was a substitute so that he can claim western land. Rufus Stewart reneges on the promise because the son, the local sheriff, is running for the United States House of Representatives. Oddly, Rufus winds up being shot to death in a confrontation that he caused, and Adam agrees to provide the affidavit to Manning. The episode does not reveal if the sheriff was elected to Congress but considers the politicla liability of one having hired a substitute in the war. June Dayton portrays David's wife, Kate.[8]
In "Make It Look Good" (February 5, 1959), Arthur Kennedy plays Sam Carter, a former Confederate hired as a bank teller in an otherwise all-Union community by banker Clem Doud, portrayed by Parley Baer. It is revealed that Carter, widely disliked in the town, had for a time been a prisoner of war at Elmira, New York. Carter becomes the inside partner to two brothers, played by Ed Nelson and Richard Rust, who rob the bank, but he changes his mind and does not take part in the splitting of the $30,000 loot. Carter must confront Russ Bowen, one of the brothers who had vowed to harm Mrs. Jenny Carter, portrayed by Jacqueline Scott. Robert F. Simon plays Sheriff John Hanley in this episode.[9]
In "King of the Valley" (November 26, 1959), Walter Pidgeon plays Dave King, a prosperous rancher who quarrels with his banker over a $10,000 loan. When the banker dies of a heart attack on the job after a confrontation with the rancher, it is revealed that the bank is missing $50,000. Leora Dana plays Anne Coleman, the banker's widow and the rancher's former paramour. The banker lost the funds with a bad investment, but the irate and uninformed townspeople are blaming King. Karl Swenson appears in this episode as Will Harmon.[10]
On February 18, 1960, Zane Grey Theatre aired "Guns for Garibaldi" to commemorate the centennial of Giuseppe Garibaldi's reunification of Italy. The episode is set in Indian Creek, a western gold mining town. Giulio Mandati, played by Fernando Lamas, takes over his brother's gold claim. Though the residents of Indian Creek wanted to use the gold to finance a dam, Mandati plans to lend support to Garibaldi, who had requested financial contributions and volunteers from around the world as he launched his Redshirts in July 1860 to invade Sicily and conquer the Kingdom of Naples from King Victor Emanuel II.[11]
Other guest stars
Denver Pyle played a sheriff on a number of Zane Grey Theatre episodes.
Frequent guest stars also included Chris Alcaide (five times) David Niven, Ben Cooper (five times), Russ Conway, Walter Coy (three times), Joan Crawford, Edward G. Robinson, Claudette Colbert, Sammy Davis, Jr., Robert Harland, Hedy Lamarr, Nora Marlowe (twice), Patrick McVey, Tyler McVey, John M. Pickard (four times), and Paul Stader (twice). Making single appearance were Esther Williams, Jack Lemmon, Barbara Stanwyck, Ginger Rogers, Scott Marlowe, Robert F. Simon, Lon Chaney, Jr., and in one episode, Ronald and Nancy Reagan.
Lesser-known actors who appeared, included Scott Brady, Brad Johnson, Harry Lauter, Adam Kennedy, Read Morgan, Richard Eastham, Quintin Sondergaard, Conlan Carter, Dennis Cross (in episodes "Sundown at Bitter Creek" and "Trail Incident"), Ron Hagerthy (as Jack Wilson in the 1960 episode "The Sunday Man"), Robert Karnes, Judson Pratt, and Stuart Randall. Phyllis Avery and Lew Ayres appeared as Peg and Clint Howard in the 1956 episode "The Unrelenting Sky".
The Rifleman pilot was broadcast in 1958, and a few months later, the new series began its five-year run on ABC. That episode is part of The Rifleman rerun package.
The Westerners rerun package utilizes the Black Saddle theme music, with Dick Powell's hosting segments replaced with new ones by Keenan Wynn. That format was used for a separate but connected rerun repackaging of four short-lived Western series from Four Star, Black Saddle, Johnny Ringo, The Westerner and Law of the Plainsman. An earlier rerun package was Frontier Justice, a summer replacement series on CBS in 1958, 1959 and 1961, hosted by Lew Ayres, Melvyn Douglas and Ralph Bellamy, one each summer.
Ratings
In 1958-1959, Zane Grey Theater ranked 13th of the top 25 programs. It dropped to 23rd place in 1959-1960 and disappeared from the ranking in its final season.[12]
DVD release
In June 2009, VCI Entertainment released the complete first season of the series on Region 1 DVD in the United States.[13]
References
- ^ a b "Westerns: Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre". tvacres.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
- ^ "Zane Grey Theatre: "A Thread of Respect"". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "Zane Grey Theatre: "Rebel Ranger", December 3, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
- ^ "Zane Grey Theatre: "Death in a Wood", December 17, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
- ^ "Zane Grey Theatre: "License to Kill", February 7, 1958". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
- ^ "Zane Grey Theatre: "Let the Man Die", December 18, 1958". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
- ^ "Zane Grey Theatre: "Deadfall", February 19, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
- ^ "Zane Grey Theatre: "Medal for Valor", December 25, 1958". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
- ^ "Zane Grey Theatre: "Make It Look Good", February 5, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
- ^ "Zane Grey Theatre: "King of the Valley", November 26, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
- ^ "Zane Grey Theatre: "Guns for Garibaldi", February 18, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
- ^ "1950s TV Ratings: United States". fiftiesweb.com. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
- ^ Lambert, David (2009-04-10). "Zane Grey Theater - Release Date, Revised Cover Art & More for The Complete Season 1". tvshowsondvd.com. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Zane Grey Theatre |
- Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater at the Internet Movie Database
- Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater at TV.com
- Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater at Classic TV Archives: Westerns
- Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater at TVGuide.com
- Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre DVD review and production history for series.
